whogivesabook's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a bit of a student of short stories. As a matter of fact, I'd already read a few in this collection. And it is a good collection. Not brilliant, but good.
Particular favourites were...
Spared by A. L. Kennedy
A man visits a cheese shop and meets a woman there. Despite being married he cannot help but pursuit this new path in search of happiness.
Funny Little Snake by Tessa Hadley
A stepmother has to rise to the challenge of caring for her husband’s young daughter who has travelled up for a visit. With her husband largely absent and disinterested the woman tires to forge some form of relationship. Things come to a head when she takes the child back home to her mother.
Remember This by Graham Swift
A couple, recently married, take a day to write a will. A formality of life but one that conjures up a strange feeling between them and bonds the pair in an intimate way. In the wake of the most beautiful day, the new husband settles down to write a letter for his new wife.
(This story really spoke strongly to me. It was so utterly and completely heart-wrenching.)
The Universal Story by Ali Smith
The story of a book and it’s life in many hands. And where that book ends up will be both poignant and ridiculous.
(This story seems to have false starts but that’s part of the magic of this interesting narrative style. It is playful and a little unsure of itself, purposefully. I really loved the concept of this one.)
Chapter 2 (from All That Man Is) by David Szalay
A young Frenchman journeys to Cyprus on a holiday. He was meant to travel with a friend, but they backed out at the last moment. There to seek out some hedonism, he bumps into a pair of unlikely new friends. From there, things get a little unsettling.
(I found this story really quite refreshing. It tells the truth of modern society and its isolated and naive male contingent. Uncertain, unprofessional, careless and lacking any true purpose the main character is caught up in the currents of the world and seems adrift in a really damaging way. It really made me fearful of the next few decades. What will happen when the parents of these man-babies die and leave them to fend for themselves? There will be nothing for them. They’ll piss away their inheritance on weed, video games and prostitutes. Then a large portion will kill themselves. This is my fear. I think it is well-founded.
Anyway, this story was so good that I’m going to seek out Szalay’s other works. I’m going to start with the novel that this story is from. I’m led to believe that it is a collection of short stories but they are laid out as chapters and it is a half-way novel and half-way story collection.)
Later, His Ghost by Sarah Hall
The strange post-apocalyptic tale of a man braving ceaseless winds.
The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon
A pier falls. I mean, it does what it stays on the tin.
(The beauty of this story lies in its tip-toeing along the line between literary fiction and horror. The descriptions of the events are told in a regiment of moments that break over you as you read, heaping on these gruesome and haunting images. Don’t read this one before visiting a seaside.)
Back To The Review
Therein lies my explanation for the rating. Seven good stories out of thirty. That's not a fantastic hit rate. There are three that I'd consider worth reading, but not fantastic (All The Boys by Thomas Morris, The Woman Who Lived in a Restaurant by Leone Ross and North Sea Crossing by Helen Dunmore.) So, sadly only 1/3rd of this collection is worth reading. Which is, of course, just my opinion.
I feel like this was a little too ambitious. It seems like a personal project by the editor that fails in its attempt to accurately represent contemporary British short stories and instead succeeds merely in conveying Hensher's own tastes.
There are a number of short stories that I feel should have been included. And I reserve ultimate judgement because I don't know how the cogs turn on this sort of thing. Perhaps better stories had been requested and weren't available. Who knows?
Bottom line, I've bookmarked the stories I liked and will return to them. I'll also be seeking out more work by the writers I enjoyed. I'm gutted that the rest of the submissions, many contributed by famous names, are so bad and I'm going to avoid their work. So maybe it'll save me wasting money on Jackie Kay, Martin Amis, China Mieville, Peter Hobbs, Irvine Welsh, Zadie Smith, Will Self, and Hilary Mantel's work. So maybe it'll save me money.
If you like any of the above authors, make a case for them. I'd love to be proved wrong on them. Maybe they're not terrible.
Rating: 3.5
Particular favourites were...
Spared by A. L. Kennedy
A man visits a cheese shop and meets a woman there. Despite being married he cannot help but pursuit this new path in search of happiness.
Funny Little Snake by Tessa Hadley
A stepmother has to rise to the challenge of caring for her husband’s young daughter who has travelled up for a visit. With her husband largely absent and disinterested the woman tires to forge some form of relationship. Things come to a head when she takes the child back home to her mother.
Remember This by Graham Swift
A couple, recently married, take a day to write a will. A formality of life but one that conjures up a strange feeling between them and bonds the pair in an intimate way. In the wake of the most beautiful day, the new husband settles down to write a letter for his new wife.
(This story really spoke strongly to me. It was so utterly and completely heart-wrenching.)
The Universal Story by Ali Smith
The story of a book and it’s life in many hands. And where that book ends up will be both poignant and ridiculous.
(This story seems to have false starts but that’s part of the magic of this interesting narrative style. It is playful and a little unsure of itself, purposefully. I really loved the concept of this one.)
Chapter 2 (from All That Man Is) by David Szalay
A young Frenchman journeys to Cyprus on a holiday. He was meant to travel with a friend, but they backed out at the last moment. There to seek out some hedonism, he bumps into a pair of unlikely new friends. From there, things get a little unsettling.
(I found this story really quite refreshing. It tells the truth of modern society and its isolated and naive male contingent. Uncertain, unprofessional, careless and lacking any true purpose the main character is caught up in the currents of the world and seems adrift in a really damaging way. It really made me fearful of the next few decades. What will happen when the parents of these man-babies die and leave them to fend for themselves? There will be nothing for them. They’ll piss away their inheritance on weed, video games and prostitutes. Then a large portion will kill themselves. This is my fear. I think it is well-founded.
Anyway, this story was so good that I’m going to seek out Szalay’s other works. I’m going to start with the novel that this story is from. I’m led to believe that it is a collection of short stories but they are laid out as chapters and it is a half-way novel and half-way story collection.)
Later, His Ghost by Sarah Hall
The strange post-apocalyptic tale of a man braving ceaseless winds.
The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon
A pier falls. I mean, it does what it stays on the tin.
(The beauty of this story lies in its tip-toeing along the line between literary fiction and horror. The descriptions of the events are told in a regiment of moments that break over you as you read, heaping on these gruesome and haunting images. Don’t read this one before visiting a seaside.)
Back To The Review
Therein lies my explanation for the rating. Seven good stories out of thirty. That's not a fantastic hit rate. There are three that I'd consider worth reading, but not fantastic (All The Boys by Thomas Morris, The Woman Who Lived in a Restaurant by Leone Ross and North Sea Crossing by Helen Dunmore.) So, sadly only 1/3rd of this collection is worth reading. Which is, of course, just my opinion.
I feel like this was a little too ambitious. It seems like a personal project by the editor that fails in its attempt to accurately represent contemporary British short stories and instead succeeds merely in conveying Hensher's own tastes.
There are a number of short stories that I feel should have been included. And I reserve ultimate judgement because I don't know how the cogs turn on this sort of thing. Perhaps better stories had been requested and weren't available. Who knows?
Bottom line, I've bookmarked the stories I liked and will return to them. I'll also be seeking out more work by the writers I enjoyed. I'm gutted that the rest of the submissions, many contributed by famous names, are so bad and I'm going to avoid their work. So maybe it'll save me wasting money on Jackie Kay, Martin Amis, China Mieville, Peter Hobbs, Irvine Welsh, Zadie Smith, Will Self, and Hilary Mantel's work. So maybe it'll save me money.
If you like any of the above authors, make a case for them. I'd love to be proved wrong on them. Maybe they're not terrible.
Rating: 3.5
lizzy_royston_85's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ipb1's review against another edition
3.0
A (predictably) very mixed bag. Half a dozen I enjoyed, but overall I was left with a strong feeling of 'meh' with several 'whatevs'.
livvmooree's review against another edition
4.0
i enjoyed this collection of short stories. on the most part, they were entertaining and well written. it definitely did take me a long time to read though and i had to skip over a couple, some because they simply didn’t grip me and some because i got kinds fed up of reading short stories by the end!
tina94's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Homophobia
behindthecritic's review
4.0
I really wanted to discover some new authors, read some authors I have always meant to have read and read more short stories. This collection ticked all of those boxes for me.
Like all short story collections, I preferred some stories more than others. However, I have left wanting to read more short story collections and read the works of several authors included in this collection.
Like all short story collections, I preferred some stories more than others. However, I have left wanting to read more short story collections and read the works of several authors included in this collection.
annemaries_shelves's review
3.0
Okay collection as a whole - I tended to enjoy the female author’s stories more.
Didn’t like the “Men” section’s stories at all unfortunately. But really enjoyed the “War and Politics” and “Catastrophic Worlds” sections a lot.
Warning for a lot of homophobic language in Irvine Welsh’s “Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It)”.
Didn’t like the “Men” section’s stories at all unfortunately. But really enjoyed the “War and Politics” and “Catastrophic Worlds” sections a lot.
Warning for a lot of homophobic language in Irvine Welsh’s “Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It)”.